Social platforms' are a very crowded place to be, so you need to be able to stand out. 

Today's headlines are 'Global Warming' and of course the 'Corona Virus'. 

It's got people from around the world providing fear, fake news, along with personal thoughts and possible solutions - just like 'Janet' on Facebook.

As a result we're putting our lives on hold, becoming more obsessed with 'checking in' on social media, and for many with mental health issues we also see them 'checking out'. 

It seems we've now got used to working from home, and cancelling face to face business and social events whilst reverting back to being a closed society in physical terms - we now see country after country placing stronger restrictions on who can gain entry. 

The stock market is up and down like a brides nightie - imagining the worst-case scenario, and many businesses are still unsure of the downstream as yet unknown impact on the balance sheet.

Former Presidents who appear to be inciting and encouraging riotous behaviour are now having social media accounts shut down also - some might say this is a long overdue great move.

What we can learn from this is that social media if utilised in the right way is indeed a great place to be able to share stories. 

So, brands need to be thinking less about push advertising and more about creating media messages and storytelling that people can become involved with.

I often get asked if I have a specific audience in mind when producing my content, and the short answer is most definitely - I know exactly who I'm writing for.

My stuff is aimed at the multi-channel retail sector which is where my entire career has been built, and where I have considerable experience, these days it's also very much focused on the global pandemic via Vitacheck. 

However, most of what I put out there will resonate with other sectors because we're all looking to grow our business, reduce our marketing cost and remain front of mind over any competitor. 

I also recognise that my blog/vlogs can be seen by many people via my 1st level connections on social media. 

The great thing is these are people that wouldn't necessarily have 'searched' for my subject matter blogs/vlogs but will have 'discovered' them via my current connections primarily on numerous social media platforms.

Many of them I know will have some degree of interest because most of my network is made up of people from the same industry. 

As such chances are they'll 'like' some of the stuff I post, they might also add a 'comment' which can then spark conversations which leads to visibility with other people in their network - it's a simple low cost multiplier effect - but it's a series of skills that needs to be learned.

There's a world of content opportunities out there, but organisations are missing a huge slice of it because they still want to use social media as a means to 'advertise and promote' the corporate bible. 

Search up until now has been great, it's something that's connected humans since we've been on the planet.  In today's digitally connected world we can 'search' for something at the click of the mouse, we can do this wherever in the world we are. 

'Content Discovery' by definition puts you and me in control, we are happy to spend more time on subject matters that we can relate to, and during that time we're also open to other topics as long as the content is in context with where we started our 'discovery' in the first place.

So if you wanted to gain traction and eyeballs by 'relevant' audiences and consumers instead of advertising which carries a 50-75% fraud penalty for every £/$ spent what could you do?

1) Think Media - Not content - entertain and inform via storytelling, but make it feel real - We can all smell an advert dressed up as something else a mile off.

2) Think Stories - Not adverts - With the influx of D2C brands (and their inevitable competitors) playing fast and loose in the digital ad space, more marketing £/$ are needed to compete for the same impressions.

3) Think Authenticity - Not Corporate - Leverage Employee advocacy to unlock authentic stories about your brand, people don't watch or read your brand police polished stuff anyway.

So, If I'm lucky the people in my 2nd and 3rd degree networks will also 'like' and look to 'share' my stories and possibly look to connect with me - it's another example of the beautiful low cost networking effect of social media in action all without risking those non clicks from Google - this is about having an 'inbound' mindset.